Yogyakarta: Java's ancient city of culture
Java's 'intricate' classical arts – including gamelan music, puppetry and dance – are lovingly practised in Yogyakarta

Think of Java, and chances are that the megacity of Jakarta – the capital of Indonesia – will spring to mind. But for those interested in the island's traditional culture, a smaller city beckons, said Scott Mowbray in The New York Times.
Set in jungled hills 250 miles east of Jakarta, Yogyakarta is close to Java's greatest ancient sites – Borobudur (the world's largest Buddhist temple), and Prambanan (a Hindu temple complex), both dating from the 9th century. But the city is now "a place of intellectual and cultural ferment", with several universities and a vibrant contemporary art scene. And nowhere are Java's "intricate" classical arts – including gamelan music, puppetry and dance – still so lovingly practised.
On arrival, Yogyakarta may seem much like any other hectic Indonesian city, with its "swarms" of scooters and countless warungs, or street food stalls. But you'll notice a "slower, more communal" rhythm in its kampongs, which are "villages within the city" – clusters of homes set amid quiet, winding streets decked with "songbirds in delicate cages, walls and doors of lovely hues, and countless potted plants". And in the heart of it all is the sultan's palace, the Kraton, with its many 18th-century buildings set in leafy grounds. Around the Kraton are other sites – a mosque, bath houses, gardens – all built according to a unique symbolic scheme – "a syncretic mix of animist, Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim beliefs that put Yogya at the centre of the universe". Known as the Cosmological Axis, this area was designated last year as a Unesco World Heritage site.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
During my time in the city, I went to museums, art galleries, "barista-style" coffee shops, a classical dance performance based on the Ramayana (an ancient Hindu epic), and a drag show in a batik emporium that was "a joyful blast of pure pop camp".
And I visited Prambanan and Borobudur, climbing to the top of the latter – a giant, stepped pyramid that is almost 400 feet wide and crowned with 72 hollow stupas, each sheltering a statue of the Buddha.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Questions abound over the FAA’s management of Boeing
Talking Points Some have called the agency’s actions underwhelming
-
Lou Berney’s 6 favorite books with powerful storytelling
Feature The award-winning author recommends works by Dorothy B. Hughes, James McBride, and more
-
Robert Redford: the Hollywood icon who founded the Sundance Film Festival
Feature Redford’s most lasting influence may have been as the man who ‘invigorated American independent cinema’ through Sundance
-
Lou Berney’s 6 favorite books with powerful storytelling
Feature The award-winning author recommends works by Dorothy B. Hughes, James McBride, and more
-
Robert Redford: the Hollywood icon who founded the Sundance Film Festival
Feature Redford’s most lasting influence may have been as the man who ‘invigorated American independent cinema’ through Sundance
-
Book reviews: ‘All the Way to the River: Love, Loss, and Liberation’ and ‘Mother Mary Come to Me’
Feature Elizabeth Gilbert’s ‘balls to the wall’ memoir and Arundhati Roy’s terrifying mother
-
6 rustic homes on ranches
Feature Featuring copper kitchen counters in Colorado and a 380-acre property in California
-
Steve: a ‘gripping’ drama starring Cillian Murphy
The Week Recommends Murphy plays the frazzled headmaster of a boarding school for ‘delinquent’ boys in this bold Indie film
-
The Lady from the Sea: a ‘thrillingly contemporary’ Ibsen adaptation
The Week Recommends ‘Luminous’ cast dazzle in Simon Stone’s ‘hugely enjoyable’ production
-
Black Rabbit: slick crime thriller set in a high-end New York restaurant
The Week Recommends Two Manhattan brothers resort to ‘ever-more high-stakes’ schemes to tackle ‘huge’ gambling debts in the ‘glossy’ series
-
One Battle After Another: a ‘terrifically entertaining’ watch
The Week Recommends Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest release is a ‘high-octane action thriller’ and a ‘surefire Oscar frontrunner’